“Maybe you are right.” She looked off in the distance before looking back at me.
“Proctor, I really like you and enjoy being around you. I only want peace in my life from here on out and people around who mean me well.”
“I mean nothing but, and that’s from the bottom of my heart.”
I replied.
Ari and I got up from the table and walked toward the bedroom, when Ari’s phone rang, and she smacked her lips.
“Somebody bothering you?”
“Yes, but someone, irrelevant. I’m not answering.”
“Who is it, though?”
“Josiah’s sister, Roshelle, with whom he was close with. She’s probably calling to talk shit about you getting off. I've been surprised that I haven’t heard from any of them yet. It’s a whole slew of them that talk shit to me. Some are Josiah’s actual siblings, and then not to mention that his mom adopted and fostered many kids, so they're giving me hell. The ones I know at least.”
“If they were so close, then why wasn’t she at the trial with the rest of his clan?” I asked.
“Because she has like five kids, so coming out here for the trial was probably hard. I’m just ignoring her. She can talk shit to my voicemail, and later I’ll decide whether to respond. I’m trying to stay at peace today.”
“Good. I would hate to have to fly to D.C. just to strangle a bitch.”
She forwarded the call.
I walked into the closet to get dressed, and Ari went into the bathroom to freshen up. I grabbed a black short-sleevebutton-up shirt, a pair of black pants, and a pair of shoes. I got dressed and sat on the bed, putting on my clothes, when I heard something hit the floor, like a body thudding to the ground.
I got up and walked into the restroom, where I saw Ari on the ground crying so hard that there was no noise coming from her mouth.
“What’s wrong, baby?”
She looked up at me, eyes wide and broken.
“What did y’all do, Proctor?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“They’re dead. They’re all dead. What did you do to them?”
“Who?”
“Josiah’s mama and his three brothers were murdered. She just texted me and said I let a man murder everyone she had. Did you really kill them, Proctor!”
I bent down to be closer to her face.
“Ari, you need to calm the fuck down.”
“Why would you do that? You’re sitting up here trying to act like you want a family, like you want to be in my daughter’s life, but you’d do something like that? Either you or your son. What kind of people are you?”
I started to lie to her. I started to deny it. But the truth was, if she wanted to be with me, she had to know the real me. And for some reason, I felt like I could tell Ari the truth and it would be received better than a lie. I really liked this woman, and if she can’t accept the truth from me, then how far could we make it?
“Listen, sweetheart. You have to think about it like this. Don’t you love our daughter?”
“Of course, I love her, Proctor. What kind of question is that?”
“A good one. So what would you do if someone happened to hurt your daughter? Tried to harm her in any way? Pulled out a gun and shot her in her chest and left her fighting for her life because they were mad at you for some shit you didn’t do.”
“What do you mean, I would fucking kill some,”
